/09.02.2010

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Zooming in

teeing off

Sophomore sets new goals going into her second season, page 23

Film student captures more than 600 portraits of people he knows for daily photo project, page 15

Thursday

Sep t e m be r 2 , 2 0 1 0

The Ithacan

next task

Administration needs to be on same page for new vision, page 10

I t h a c a , N . Y. Volum e 7 8 , I s s u e 2

Sustainability efforts reap big savings by rebecca webster senior writer

High

hopes MICHELLE BOULÉ/THE ITHACAN

New study reveals growing support for medical marijuana in New York by ryan sharpstene staff writer

A not-so-new “miracle drug” is getting increased attention from Poughkeepsie to Plattsburgh, from Brooklyn to Buffalo. The debate surrounding the legality of medical marijuana is shifting from the basements of teenagers and the booking rooms of police stations to the bedsides of cancer patients and the floors of legislative halls. Results from the 2010 Empire State Poll, an annual lifestyle survey conducted by Cornell University, showed that more than six in 10 New Yorkers support legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.

The poll, conducted by a random telephone sample of 400 upstate and 400 downstate residents ages 18 and older, showed neither age, gender or race played a major factor in support levels. All subcategories had more than 50 percent support. Yasamin Miller, director of the Cornell Survey Research Institute, said for some New Yorkers, the legalization debate is not an important topic. “There are so many other pressing issues that New Yorkers think that it’s not worth the effort to criminalize it,” she said.

See marijuana, page 4

Seven players suspended from game by elizabeth sile editor in chief

The Ithaca College football team has suspended its four senior captains and three additional players from Saturday’s game for violating team rules. Head Coach Mike Welch said the following players have been suspended: David Ahonen, graduate student captain and strong safety; Daniel Higgins, senior captain and tight end; Daniel Ruffrage, senior captain and wide receiver; Tom Vossler, senior captain and wide receiver; Spence White, junior corner back; Jason Hendel, sophomore quarterback; and Kevin Cline, junior strong safety. Welch declined to comment on what rule the players violated and if any other players were involved, citing the “privacy of the student athlete.” Dave Maley, associate director of media relations, said the players violated team and athletic department rules. He said he could not comment on whether the college has or will take disciplinary action

From left, senior captains Dan Ruffrage, Tom Vossler and Dan Higgins take a break at practice Tuesday at Allen Field. They are three of the seven players suspended from Saturday’s game against St. Lawrence University. kelsey o’connor/the ithacan

against any of the players because “the college can’t comment on individuals who may have been referred to the campus judicial system.” Maley also said he could not

comment on the nature of the suspension rule violation, and Brian McAree, vice president of student affairs and campus life, said he could not provide additional information.

Vossler and White both reiterated that they were suspended for violating team rules but would not comment further. “It’s a team matter,” Vossler said. Welch said information is not being withheld. “We’re not covering anything up,” he said. “We’ve handled this within our football team.” Welch said the captains’ suspension will not affect their captaincy. The players will only be excluded from Saturday’s game against St. Lawrence University, Welch said. Senior Nathan March, play-byplay broadcaster for WICB radio, said it would likely be a low-scoring game. March said the Bombers still have a good chance to win. “If you put a gun to my head I would still say they win this game,” he said. “With St. Lawrence, a team that … only got into the opposing red zone 18 times all last season, you have to believe the Bombers still should be strong enough to come away with a win at home.”

find more. online. www.theithacan.org

Electrical consumption at Ithaca College has been on a steady decline over the past few years, and the college saved more than $1 million in utilities during the 2009-10 academic year, Carl Sgrecci, vice president of finance and administration, said. Last year, the college underspent its utilities budget of $7.9 million by $1.6 million, Sgrecci said. “Despite the fact that we have added Sgrecci said small efforts some space to make a difference the campus in in energy savings. the last several years, our energy consumption really has declined, and as a [result] of that, we have been able to hold our electrical costs down,” Sgrecci said. Energy conservation measures play a role in the declining electrical costs and are being executed across campus in different forms. Some of those efforts include replacing many of the older indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures with more energy-efficient ones, rewiring older energy motors and upgrading heating and cooling units — changes that are often invisible to most people on campus, Sgrecci said. “The biggest factors are literally taking advantage of all the efforts we can reasonably afford,” he said. Marian Brown, special assistant to the provost, said the energy conservation accomplishments can be attributed to the hard work of facilities crews and students. “The decline in utilities usage, our electricity and natural gas use, are a direct reflection of the great work that’s going on by our facilities professionals,” she said. The Office of Facilities is currently working on renovating the Dillingham Center fountain power system to lower overall energy consumption. Rick Couture, associate vice president of the Office of Facilities, said the fountains have previously ran off of one single 100-horsepower motor. The renovations will change the constantly running motor to 16 separate five-horsepower motors, each only in use when that specific fountain is running. The fountains are expected to be up

See savings, page 4


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